Family Life
by CoffeeGirl09
Summary: Jack and Ianto deal with their life and their twins.
1. The Date

Ianto looked down at the menu, trying to decide what to order. He could feel Jack's eyes watching him intently.

"What is it Jack?" Ianto looked up to see Jack's blue eyes peering over the top of his menu.

"I was just thinking, this is the first time we've been out on a date since we had the twins. It was nice of Gwen and Rhys to offer to take them for the evening." Jack smiled at his boyfriend and began to scan the menu.

"Yeah, maybe we could come to some arrangement and get out more." Ianto nodded thoughtfully and turned his attention to the waiter who was approaching their table.

"Are you ready to order?" the waiter was tall; his slender figure leaned confidently to the left. He reminded Ianto slightly of Jack and he smiled to himself thinking about how much Jack had changed since they had started dating. The waiter looked down and smiled at Ianto, even his smile had a movie star quality to it.

"I'll have Spaghetti Bolognese. Jack what are you having?"

"I'll have the same as you and could I have a glass of mineral water please." Jack looked up at the waiter as he ordered. Even though they were getting a taxi home, he didn't want to drink in case there was any rift activity or a problem with the twins during the night. It had been like this ever since Caden tripped and hit his head off the coffee table 3 years ago, Ianto and Jack had been sharing a bottle of wine and were unable to get him to the hospital themselves. Luckily, Tosh had been on her way over to see the twins and drove them to the hospital. Caden had split his head open and both Jack and Ianto had got a fright when they saw their little boy with blood running down the side of his face. They agreed to take drinking in turns after that.

"I'll have a glass of white wine please." Ianto grinned over at Jack as the waiter left with their order. "So, it's our first date in almost 5 years. I remember our very first date. We went out to a see a movie and then you came back to mine for coffee and spent the night."

Jack nodded, also remembering their first date. "I seem to remember that I practically moved in that night." Jack reached over the table and took Ianto's hand in his own.

Ianto rubbed circles into the back of Jack's hand with his thumb. "It was either that or I moved into the Hub and shared your bunker." Jack laughed at the thought of the pair of them sharing his tiny bunker. Jack slowly stopped laughing and looked at Ianto. He still found it hard to believe that Ianto was his partner, he'd felt even more nervous than when he fought aliens when he asked him out.

They sat and talked about Bethan and Caden's upcoming birthday and what they planned to buy them when their meal arrived.

A comfortable silence fell between them for the first time since they had gotten to the restaurant. This is nice, thought Ianto, just talking to Jack and dinner.

As Jack gulped down the last of his water and Ianto swallowed his final mouthful of spaghetti, the waiter brought the bill. Jack took one look at it and handed over his credit card. As the waiter left Ianto looked over at Jack and sighed.

"What's up Yan?" Jack knew his partner too well; he was wondering whether or not he should voice his thoughts.

"You're going to laugh at me if I tell you." Ianto shook his head.

Jack grinned. "If I promise not to laugh, will you tell what's on your mind?" Ianto nodded. "Ok, I promise I won't laugh."

"This is the first time we've left the twins with anyone and went out, they're usually in the play area of the Hub when we're at work and we always go separately on missions so one of us is always with them. I can't wait to go home now to see them. I know it's stupid because we've only been out for 2 and a half hours." Ianto stopped and searched Jack's face for any signs of laughter. "I've missed them."

"Ianto, that's natural! Did you seriously think I would laugh at you for being a normal parent?" Ianto looked down at the table, hoping Jack didn't notice him blushing. "I missed them too." The waiter returned and handed Jack his credit card and Jack stood up and thanked him.

"I hope you enjoyed your meal. Please come again." The waiter followed them to the door and went to get their coats off the coat rack behind the till. He returned with Jack's military coat in one hand and Ianto's black Belgian pilot jacket in the other.

They walked out of the restaurant arm in arm and walked slowly towards the telephone box over the road. Both Jack and Ianto squeezed in the small phone box to escape the cold evening air and call a taxi.

Once the taxi was booked they went to stand outside the restaurant. Jack's arm automatically wrapped around Ianto's shoulders and Ianto's hand lifted up to find Jack's.

"It's cold tonight, isn't it?" Ianto noted and looked up at the dark, cloudless sky. He leaned further into Jack's embrace to protect himself from the bitter night air.

"Hmm. How do you think we should celebrate Bethan and Caden's birthday this year?" Jack wondered aloud.

Ianto shrugged his shoulders. It was something he'd been thinking about last night but hadn't managed to come up with anything special. "I think we should ask them what they want to do. When I was 5, my mother organised a party in a soft play for me and my friends."

Jack thought about it for a moment. "But Caden and Bethan don't have many friends. Only little Megan. It's hardly a party with one other guest."

Ianto sighed. He hated the fact that Bethan and Caden couldn't go to a normal school like normal children. Jack didn't like it either but he insisted it was for the best. Bethan and Caden were both really fast healers and quite clever for their age and Torchwood was a secret organisation which could do without being broadcasted by toddlers at nursery. Any children a Torchwood team member had were to be educated at the Hub by Tosh and Owen. Owen handled Science and English whilst Tosh taught them Maths and ICT. Other subjects were taught using online lessons and files that Tosh had obtained by hacking into the local primary school's computers.

The taxi pulled up outside the restaurant. The driver leaned his head out of the window and asked "Taxi for Harkness-Jones?" Jack nodded and held the door open for Ianto. Once they were both Jack stated their address and his thoughts went back to what they were going to do for the twin's birthday.

Ianto had sat in silence for most of the journey home and suddenly had an idea.

"Jack, we could always take them to stay at my mam's house. They've not been to visit them in ages and we could stay for the weekend. Mam would love it and the kids would probably have loads of fun because Rhiannon would spoil them." Ianto suggested.

"That could work. We'll ask them about it in the morning. No doubt they'll be exhausted after tonight. They always are after playing with Megan." Jack contemplated the situation. The taxi pulled up outside their house and Ianto paid the driver and gave a generous tip.

The couple closed the gate behind them and walked hand in hand up their garden path. Jack paused when they reached the door.

"It's been a lovely evening Mr. Harkness-Jones. I would love to come in for some coffee." He gave Ianto a perfect grin and Ianto laughed.

"Yes, I had fun too. In fact, I would love it if you moved in with me." Ianto played along with Jack's game.

"I'm one step ahead of you. I've already moved all my stuff in." Jack leaned forwards and captured Ianto's mouth in a sweet kiss. Pulling away after a moment, Jack rested his forehead against Ianto's and laughed. "I suppose we'd better go and relieve Gwen and Rhys of the twins." Jack opened the door and was instantly hit by noise from the three kids and the television. He grinned again at Ianto and stepped into the hallway being followed closely by his partner.

"We're home!" Ianto called over Jack's shoulder. The television was immediately turned off and little footsteps could be heard running towards the hallway.

"Daddy! Tad!" Bethan and Caden emerged from the living room and ran towards Jack and Ianto.

Ianto crouched down and opened his arms as his and Jack's children reached him and threw themselves at Ianto. "Hey kids! Did you miss us?"

"Yeah! Gwen and Rhys played Snakes and Ladders with me, Caden and Megan!" Bethan left go of her Tad and looked up at Jack.

"Really?" Jack squatted down to his daughter's level and gave her a hug. "Who won?"

"Caden." Bethan withdrew from Jack and folded her arms across her chest, clearly annoyed that she hadn't won.

Just then, Gwen walked into the hallway from the living room and smiled. "Did you enjoy your meal?"

Jack stood back up and took Bethan's hand. "Yes, we actually couldn't wait to get back." Gwen look puzzled. "We missed the twins." He explained as he picked Bethan up and carried her like a baby into the living room. "Hi Rhys."

"Hi Jack, did you and Ianto have a nice time?" Rhys was just tiding Snakes and Ladders away when Jack walked in.

"Yeah, the meal was lovely. We missed the kids though so I don't know if we'll be going out again anytime soon." Jack explained and sat on the sofa with Bethan on his knee. Ianto walked in the room and looked oddly like Jack as he was also carrying Caden like a baby. He sat next to his partner and looked around the room.

"Ianto, I made sure nobody made any mess so stop looking!" Gwen noticed Ianto scanning the room for anything that was out of place.

"I wasn't!" Gwen raised her eyebrows. "Okay, I was. I'm sorry, it's just..."

"You have to have everything perfect." Gwen finished his sentence for him. "Jack, I'd love to stay and chat about how our evenings went but I really think it's time we went home and got Megan to bed."

Jack nodded, not daring to move much or talk as Caden had fallen asleep in his arms. Ianto smiled at his partner and followed the Cooper's out of the living room to see them out.

"Thanks for babysitting." Ianto whispered to the couple, he still had Bethan in his arms and her eyelids were starting to drop.

Gwen leaned over and gave Ianto a kiss on the cheek. "Anytime Ianto. You and Jack need some time as a couple and you've babysat Megan for me and Rhys." She picked Megan up and turned back to Ianto. "Well, I'll see you at work then." Rhys was already waiting in the car and Gwen went to buckle Megan in the booster seat in the back and climbed into them passenger seat. Ianto waved to them until they turned the corner and were out of sight.

Closing the door behind him, Ianto walked back into his house and saw Jack climbing the stairs with Caden still asleep in his arms. Ianto stifled a giggle as Jack stood on the creaky stair and stopped abruptly in case their son woke up. Once he was certain Caden was not going to wake up, he continued to walk up the stairs. Ianto grinned to himself and followed Jack to their children's bedroom to tuck them in.


	2. Breakfast in Bed

Ianto woke up and looked at the clock on the bedside table. It read 7:01am. The twins usually woke up around 7:30am and he liked to be up first and make their breakfasts. Rolling over, he noticed that Jack was already awake and was lying there watching him.

"Good morning." Jack grinned. He leaned over and pressed a kiss to Ianto's lips.

Ianto smiled into the kiss and slowly pulled back. As much as he loved lying in bed and kissing Jack, he had to go downstairs and make their children their breakfast.

"I'm going to make the twins breakfast in bed, do you want some?" Ianto offered. Jack shook his head.

"What were you planning on making?" Jack swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stretched.

"I was thinking pancakes with strawberries and syrup." Ianto said thoughtfully. "With fresh orange."

"Sounds good, I'll help." Jack pulled on a plain white t-shirt and a pair of tracksuit bottoms and headed for the bathroom.

Ianto also chose to wear a plain t-shirt and tracksuit bottoms until he was showered. "Sure. We'll have to be quick though, I really want to give them breakfast in bed."

Jack re-emerged from the bathroom and nodded, running a hand through his bed hair; he opened the door and gestured for Ianto to go first.

Ever since the twins were born, Jack and Ianto had kept their kitchen fully stocked as Caden and Bethan went on and off food so often that it was unbelievable.

Jack was first in the kitchen and he walked straight over to where their radio was standing on the windowsill and turned it on. It had been a tradition to have the radio on during the making of breakfast ever since Ianto could remember. It gave everyone a chance to wake up properly without an awkward silence. Ianto gathered all the ingredients they'd need and lined them up along the bench.

Jack's arms snaked around Ianto's hips as he poured the pancake batter into the pan.

"Jack! I almost spilled it!" Ianto giggled as his arm jerked to the side.

"I only wanted a cuddle." Jack rested his head on Ianto's shoulder. Ianto leaned into Jack's embrace. They stood like that until the pancake was finished. Jack released Ianto from his cuddle and flipped the pancake onto a plate. Whilst Ianto chopped some strawberries into smaller child bite sized pieces, Jack quickly made another pancake before the first one got cold. When both pancakes were on the plates with bits of strawberry placed in the shape of a smiley face, Jack picked up the bottle of syrup and started pouring it onto his kid's breakfasts.

"Not too much Jack! I don't want them eating too unhealthily," Ianto took hold of the hand Jack was using to pour the syrup and gently pulled it away from the plates. "Just because you have a sweet tooth does not mean you should give our kids a sugar rush at 7:30 in the morning."

Jack laughed at tipped his head back to squeeze some of the syrup directly into his mouth from the bottle.

"Jack, you're a pig," Ianto scrunched his nose up at his partner's weird eating habits.

"And that's why you love me," Jack grinned, he still had his mouth full and syrup was starting to dribble down his chin. It was Ianto's turn to laugh as he wiped the sauce away and licked it off his finger.

"Come on, we'll give these to Bethan and Caden before they get cold." Ianto picked a plate up and one of the glasses of orange juice he poured earlier. Jack grabbed the remaining breakfast and followed Ianto up the stairs and into the twin's bedroom.

"Good morning Cariad," Ianto kissed Bethan's forehead as she stirred. "We made you pancakes and strawberries."

Jack woke Caden in a similar way and balanced the little boy's breakfast on the duvet beside him and put the orange juice on the dresser next to Bethan's.

"Morning Tad," Bethan rubbed the sleep from her eyes and grinned back at the smiley face pancake. "Thank you!"

"Are you enjoying that Caden?" Ianto laughed as his son shovelled chunks of pancake into his mouth and succeeded in smearing strawberry juice around his mouth. The little boy nodded his head and stopped eating for a second when Jack wiped his finger across his chin to stop the strawberry juice from dripping on the duvet. As soon as Jack's finger was off his face, Caden began eating his breakfast except a bit slower this time.

Ianto sat and watched both children enjoying their breakfast while he thought again about their birthdays. He decided that after breakfast was probably the best time to ask, when they were not preoccupied with their toys or food.

"Daddy?" Caden looked up at Jack with big blue eyes. Whenever Jack looked at his son he could see his partner's eyes looking back at him. It was obvious to anyone that Ianto was Caden's Tad.

"Caden?" Jack imitated his son, turning the little boy's Ianto-like expression into a laugh that mirrored Jack's own.

"Do you want to eat this?" Caden offered Jack the remainder of his breakfast.

"No thank you, you can have it." Jack politely refused.

"But my tummy's full," The little boy's mouth started to quiver. For a reason that Jack and Ianto could not understand, Caden hated throwing food away. After every meal that he couldn't finish he would offer his left-over's to everyone in the room and even go looking for someone else if nobody wanted it.

"That's okay. We'll wrap it up and feed it to Myfanwy later." Jack knew that Myfanwy didn't like pancakes but his son didn't know that and he would feel a lot better thinking that his food wasn't going in the bin.

Caden reached over and placed his plate on the dresser and picked up his glass of orange juice. He took a sip out of it and replaced it on the dresser. Bethan had also finished her breakfast and climbed onto Ianto's lap for a cuddle. Ianto smiled and wrapped his arms around her.

"Right, your Daddy and I have got something we want to ask you." Ianto got their attention.

"I didn't do anything!" They both shouted and looked worriedly at each other. Jack burst out laughing at their reactions; they both instantly thought that they were in trouble.

"I wasn't going to tell you off. When we went out to the restaurant yesterday we were discussing your birthday." Ianto explained.

Both Bethan and Caden's faces lit up at the mention of their birthdays. It was something they'd started to get excited for over a week ago.

"We were wondering if you two had any ideas of how we could celebrate." Jack interrupted before the twins both started talking at the same time about presents. Caden opened his mouth as if to suggest something but closed it again when he decided against it. Silence filled the room as the twins looked up with black faces at their parents.

"Well in that case, your Daddy and I have an idea which you might like." Ianto said. "How about we go to see your Grandma and spend the weekend at her house?"

"Will Auntie Rhi be there?" Caden tugged on the sleeve of his dad's t-shirt. Jack simply nodded.

"What do you think?" Ianto looked at Bethan who had been oddly quiet.

"I love it but will we still get a cake?" Bethan said sadly.

Jack laughed. His daughter had been looking forward to her birthday cake more than anything. She'd spent hours sitting in the children's area of Jack's office in the Hub colouring pictures of what type of cake she wants. Everybody at Torchwood knew that Bethan wanted a pink cake in the shape of her favourite rag doll with a pocket on the front of her dress made from icing with the number 5 on. When Jack had suggested having a cake between her and Caden he had almost had to deal with a tantrum but to his relief, Gwen seen the signs and quickly explained to Jack that Bethan shared most things with Caden and Bethan was a special little girl who deserved her own special cake. When Bethan heard this she had given Jack a smug smile which reminded Gwen very much of Jack.

"Of course, Cariad. You can have a cake at Grandma's." Ianto soothed their daughter. Jack grinned over at him with an all-knowing smile. Ianto had been to a specialist baker with Bethan's drawing and explained how important it was that they got the cake exactly like the drawing. It was going to be a surprise for her as she hadn't realised that the drawing was missing from her drawer at Torchwood.

"Good. Grandma can have a taste of my cake when we get it." Bethan smiled across the room at Jack and climbed off Ianto's knee to give him a cuddle.

"Sure she can sweetie," Jack helped lift her onto his lap and grinned yet again at Ianto.

"Jack, could you help Bethan and Caden get dressed while I ring my mam and see if it's okay to stay for the weekend?" Ianto stood up and gathered the plates and now empty glasses.

"Yeah, come on monsters! Time to get ready!" Jack threw Bethan over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. The little girl squealed in delight as her daddy bounced over to the wardrobe in the corner of the room. Ianto shook his head at his partner; he always managed to make a boring daily routine fun for their kids. Ianto didn't want to leave the bedroom because he enjoyed watching his family have fun but knew he had to call him mam to ask permission; he knew she wouldn't refuse but felt it wasn't polite to just turn up of her doorstep so he left the room knowing that the quicker he got it done, the quicker he could rejoin his family.

"Daddy! My turn!" Caden had been sitting quietly on his bed thinking about what he was going to do once he got to his Grandma's.

Jack put Bethan down and placed the clothes he had picked out for her next to her on the bed.

"Bethan sweetie, could you be a good girl for daddy and start putting your clothes on while I give Caden a carry?" Jack asked his daughter. He found that if he asked her to do something instead of telling her, she was a lot less likely to throw a tantrum or rebel.

"Yes!" She giggled, still in hysterics from her ride.

"Good girl." Jack ran a hand threw her hair then strode across the bedroom to where his son was still sitting. "Come on sonny boy." He lifted Caden easily with one hand and flung him over his shoulder just like he did with Bethan and bounced back to the wardrobe again. Uncontrollable giggling erupted from the little boy's mouth.

Jack placed Caden gently on the floor and held out a steadying hand in case the boy was dizzy and picked out a t-shirt and jeans for his son.

****

Ianto took a seat on the bottom stair next to their house phone. He sighed. It had been a while since he'd spoken to his mother. It wasn't because he didn't love her; he simply had his hands full with Torchwood, Jack and the twins. Hopefully she would understand that. Ianto picked up the phone and dialled the number. It rang 5 times before his mam answered.

"Hello?" Came the voice.

"Hi mam, it's Ianto." Ianto introduced himself and waited to be blasted out for not ringing her earlier.

"Ianto! It's been a while. It's really nice to speak to you again. How's the family? It's the twin's birthday on Saturday, isn't it?" Mrs. Jones asked.

"Erm...Yeah, everybody's fine and yes it's the twin's birthday on Saturday. I'm sorry I haven't called but I've been a bit busy with work, Jack and the kids..." Ianto started to explain.

"Ianto, Cariad, don't worry about it. You seem to forget that I was a mother too. I completely understand how busy you are." Ianto's mam dismissed his lack of contact instantly.

"Okay, well Jack and I were talking about what we could do for the twin's birthday and we were wondering if you would mind us coming to stay at your house for the weekend? It's just the kids haven't seen you in a while and we could all do with a little break." Ianto asked.

"Of course Ianto! That's a brilliant idea! So will you be coming up on Friday night or Saturday morning?" Mrs. Jones sounded excited down the phone.

"Whenever you want us, mam." Ianto answered, he hadn't discussed when they would leave with Jack and wasn't really sure what would be best.

"Well, it is Thursday today so I'll just need to run the vacuum over and I'll be ready for you and the family tomorrow. How does that sound?" She said.

"Hang on, I'll check with Jack." Ianto covered the mouth piece of the phone and shouted up the stairs. "Jack? My mam says we can go up to her house tomorrow, is that alright?" He heard giggling and thumping as Jack bounced over to the bedroom door. It was obvious that he was still giving the twin's fireman's carries. The bedroom door opened.

"Tomorrow? That's fine." Jack shouted down. "Come on kids! We need to pack for Grandma's." The door clicked closed again.

Ianto chuckled and uncovered the receiver. "Jack says that's fine. We'll probably arrive around teatime."

"Great, I'll look forward to seeing you then." Ianto's mam was pleased that the Harkness-Jones were going to be spending the weekend with her. She loved seeing them but knew that Jack and Ianto's job didn't allow many holidays. However, she did not know exactly what it was that they did for a living.

"Okay, Thanks mam, bye." Ianto hung up the phone and sighed. That had went better than he imagined. Ianto turned and jogged up the stairs to rejoin his family.

He pushed open the bedroom door to see Jack and the twins gathering clothes and laying them out on the bed where the suitcase was sat.

"I see you've started packing." Ianto stated.

"Yes Tad, we need to pick out special birthday outfits for when we are at Grandma's. Daddy also said that we need to pack some spare clothes in case we spill food or get them dirty." Caden explained to his Tad.

Jack looked over. Ianto could see in his eyes that he was clearly just as excited, if not more, than the twins.

"Don't worry Tad; you can help Daddy pick out his spare clothes later." Bethan tried to include Ianto in their activities.

Jack chuckled. "It's okay sweetie. I don't need spare clothes because I'm a grown up." He explained to his daughter.

"But you do! You dribbled egg down you waistcoat yesterday morning." Caden pointed his finger accusingly at Jack.

Jack, for once, looked speechless. Ianto laughed.

"Come on then, let's get packed. We still need to let everyone back at the Hub know that we're taking a holiday." Ianto directed the last part at Jack.

"Yep, we've got a lot to do." Jack turned to look at his children. "We still need to pack the birthday presents." The twins grinned at each other and Ianto knew instantly that packing for this mini-break was going to be a lot more hectic than it should have been because Jack had just got the twins hyper.


	3. The Journey

"That was our turn, Jack!" Ianto waved his arm in front of Jack's face, trying to point out the road that was disappearing from their view.

"Okay Yan, I'll just turn around when I've got the chance. Will you calm down?" Jack swatted Ianto's arm away. They had been on the road for almost an hour and Ianto was getting more and more anxious by the minute.

"I am calm!" Ianto snapped. He instantly regretted snapping at Jack and turned his head to apologize but stopped when he saw Jack grinning. "What are you grinning at?"

"You." Jack answered simply. Glancing sideways he saw that Ianto was confused. "Since when did you get nervous about going to visit your mam?"

"We've never stayed overnight with the kids. I don't know. It's their birthdays and I guess I just want it to be perfect." Ianto sighed and leaned his head on the window. Jack reached over with one hand and rested it on his partner's leg.

"We both do. Just relax." Jack squeezed Ianto's leg reassuringly.

"Tad? Are we almost there?" Caden asked for the fourth time.

"Not long now Cariad." Ianto swivelled in his seat to face his son. "You okay?"

"No, I'm bored and hungry," Caden pouted.

"I've got some crisps here," Ianto reached under his seat and pulled out a carrier bag full of drinks and snacks. "What flavour would you like?"

"Do we have any salt and vinegar?" Caden asked.

"Yeah," Ianto searched through the bag and found the salt and vinegar flavoured crisps and passed them back to his son. "I've got some juice as well, do you want some?"

"No thanks." Caden's attention was now fully on his food.

"Bethan, do you want anything to eat or drink?" Ianto asked. When he got no answer he swivelled again in his chair. "Bethan?"

"Shhhh! She's asleep Tad." Caden whisper shouted at his Tad.

"Sorry." Ianto placed the bag of snacks back under his chair. Jack was right earlier, he did need to relax. This weekend was going to be perfect.

"It's okay Ianto; I don't want anything to eat." Jack faked feeling left out and pouted. Ianto chuckled at his partner's need to be the centre of attention. Ianto leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, he was confident that Jack knew the way to his mam's house and felt the need to sleep for the last half an hour of the journey. "Only thirty more minutes to go." Jack announced to the rest of the car. When he received no answer, he glanced around the car to find that all his family had fallen asleep.

"Ianto, baby. We're here." Jack gently shook Ianto awake.

"Huh?" Ianto didn't know where he was or how he had got there.

"We've arrived at your mam's, are you going to come help me unpack the car boot and unbuckle the twins?" Jack grinned at his partner's confusion.

Ianto blinked up into Jack's eyes as he processed what Jack had said. "Yes." He answered after a moment. Unbuckling his own seatbelt, Ianto climbed out of the car and closed his door. He inhaled deeply through his nose and let out a happy sigh; with a long yawn Ianto stretched his arms above his head and grinned. He couldn't remember why he had got so worked up about visiting his mam.

"Yan! Are you planning on returning to Earth anytime soon?" Jack joked as Ianto was standing staring at the sky. Ianto smiled over at Jack and opened Bethan's door to wake her up and unbuckle her.

"Beth, we're here. Did you have a nice sleep, darling?" Ianto gently unbuckled the various seatbelt's on her booster seat and pressed a kiss to her forehead. The little girl merely nodded and sat rubbing her eyes. "Come on then." Ianto picked her up with ease and lowered her to the ground, waiting before he left go in case she wasn't actually awake properly and fell over. Once he was certain she was awake and steady, he left her to watch Jack unload the suitcases and went around the other side of the car to release Caden. The boy had already woken up and was waiting impatiently for his Tad to help him out.

"Hurry up Tad!" Caden bounced up and down as much as his booster seat allowed in his excitement. "I want to give Grandma a cuddle first!"

"It's okay Caden; Bethan's helping your daddy unload the boot." Ianto laughed at his son's eagerness but hurried nonetheless to lift his boy out of the car. As soon as the boy's feet touched the ground, he ran off towards the house. "Don't forget to knock first!" Ianto yelled after him. Ianto shook his head and went to help Jack carry the suitcases.

"You can go see Grandma now Bethan, I'll help daddy with those cases." Ianto took the giant suitcase off Bethan who was clearly struggling to reach the handle. Just like Caden, as soon as she was given the chance she started running towards the house. When Jack was sure she was out of earshot he turned to Ianto.

"Did you remember to pick up the birthday cake's yesterday?" Jack raised an eyebrow. When Ianto gasped and covered his mouth, Jack closed his eyes and began to mutter how upset the twins would be if they didn't have a cake tomorrow.

"Do you really think that I would forget something that important to our kids, Jack?" Ianto looked smugly at Jack, knowing that he had fooled his partner.

"So, they're in one of the suitcases?" Jack tried to clarify. He wanted to be sure. Ianto nodded his head and turned to walk up the garden path to the house. He suddenly felt something warm cover his hand. He looked down to see Jack's hand now in his. Grinning, he slowed down slightly to walk in time with his partner. Up ahead, he could see Caden and Bethan standing at the front door. Caden had his arms held up and when their Grandma noticed him, she bent down and scooped him up just as easily as Jack or Ianto. She also scooped Bethan up as she'd had experience of the little girl's tantrums and didn't want her to feel left out. After giving both of her grandchildren a kiss on the cheek, she looked up and was about to wave to Jack and Ianto but realised that she had no free hands so she just smiled at them.

Jack loved visiting Ianto's mam. She always treated him like her own son. She was also extremely similar to Ianto; she always came across as a shy, timid woman but was the complete opposite when you got to know her. She also makes an amazing cup of coffee.

When he saw her smile at him he flashed her his famous Harkness grin and waved with the hand that was holding Ianto's without leaving go. Ianto couldn't help but laugh when Jack waved their arms about.

"Hi mam!" Ianto leaned between the twins to give his mam a kiss.

"Hello Ianto," His mam studied his face for a moment and then turned to Jack. "And who's this handsome young man?" She giggled when Jack winked at her. Ianto shook his head, why was it that nobody could resist flirting with Jack? Even his mother couldn't resist.

"Daddy?" Bethan tugged on Jack's sleeve.

"What is it sweetie?" Jack raised his eyebrows at his daughter.

"I need to use toilet." Bethan almost whispered the last part.

Jack nodded and let go of the suitcase and Ianto's hand. Ianto's mam handed Bethan over to Jack. "You know where the toilet is, Jack. I'll take this case in."

"Thanks Mrs. Jones." Jack stepped past her into the house.

"Jack, I seem to remember last time you were here I told you to call me Nerys or mam. If you call me Mrs. Jones one more time, you'll be sleeping in your car." Nerys pursed her lips and grabbed the handle of the suitcase Jack had just let go.

"Yes mam!" Jack's voice was heard from somewhere inside the house. Ianto could tell that he had mock saluted.

"Come on in Ianto, I'll make you a cup of coffee after you unpack." Nerys stepped aside as Ianto dragged his suitcase through the door. "You and Jack will be sharing your old room and Rhiannon has decorated the guestroom for the twins."

Ianto's jaw dropped. "She didn't need to redecorate! We're only staying until Sunday."

Nerys chuckled. "Ianto, if you'd bothered visiting or calling more often, you'd know that your sister is going through an interior decorating phase and when you rang to tell us you'd be visiting with the twins, she jumped at the chance to redecorate."

"Really? Has she done anything to my room?" Ianto's eyes widened at the thought of his sister snooping through his things.

"No. She's made designs for every room in the house but wants your permission before she does anything to your bedroom." Nerys led Ianto into a tidy kitchen. Looking around, he noticed that it had barely changed since his last visit which must have been over two years ago. The only difference was that the wallpaper had been replaced; before it had been a pale yellow colour and now it was beige.

Nerys wheeled the suitcase into an empty corner of the room and left it there to be collected by Jack when he returned from taking Bethan to the toilet. She then walked over to the table and placed Caden in one of the chairs.

"Do you want anything to drink Cariad?" Nerys smiled at her grandson.

"Yes please. Do you have blackcurrant?" Caden asked, slightly worried that his Grandma wouldn't have his favourite drink.

"I do, I'll go make you some." Nerys was pouring Caden his blackcurrant when Jack and Bethan came back from the toilet. "Jack, I've left the case over there for you." She nodded her head in the direction of the suitcase.

"Okay, I'll take that up and start unpacking. Which bedroom am I staying in?" Jack asked. Not sure if he would be sharing with Ianto or not.

"Ianto's and the twins are sharing the guestroom." Nerys answered and poured Bethan a glass of blackcurrant too.

"I better help him." Ianto said as Jack left the room. "His idea of unpacking is putting the toilet bag in the bathroom and the suitcase on the bed."

"Grandma?" Bethan looked up after taking a sip from her juice.

"Yes dear?" Nerys turned her attention completely to the twins.

"Where is the cestroom?" Bethan blinked in confusion. The expression reminded Nerys of Ianto when he was little. She chuckled.

"Not the cestroom Bethan, the guestroom." Nerys laughed. "It's next door to your Tad's room. Do you want to have a look?"

Bethan and Caden both nodded. They weren't sure what a guestroom was but were eager to see where they were staying. Nerys gestured for the twins to follow her into the living room and up the stairs.

"That's the bathroom. You don't need to ask if you need the toilet, just go." Nerys pointed out important rooms along the way. As the approached the guestroom at the end of the corridor, they heard a playful shout coming from Ianto's room.

"That's your Tad's room from when he was a little boy." Nerys pointed to the room as they neared it. The door was open and she couldn't tell what all the shouting was about.

"No! That's not fair!" Jack shouted and a loud thump shook the floor.

As the twins and Nerys reached the door they looked in. They all stood open mouthed at the scene in front of them.

"You're going to get it now Mr. Harkness-Jones!" Jack yelled.

"Bring it on Mr. Harkness-Jones!" Ianto laughed. He held a pillow up and whacked it across Jack's back as he attempted to rugby tackle him. Ianto wriggled free from his grasp and climbed on the bed. Grabbing the first thing he could reach – another pillow – he threw it at Jack and jumped off the bed, causing the floor to shake again. Ianto started to run away in the direction of the door when Jack grabbed his ankle. He squealed and fell to the floor, desperately clutching at chunks of carpet.

"Thought you'd escape me, eh?" Jack gasped. "Nobody escapes Jack Harkness-Jones!" Jack reached for the pillow that Ianto had thrown at him and thumped Ianto's back with it repeatedly.

"That's what...you think!" Ianto managed to say in between whacks. He started kicking his free leg wildly in the direction of Jack and managed to hit his stomach, not hard enough to do any damage but enough for him to drop the pillow and leave go of his ankle. "I'm free!" Ianto shouted in victory and crawled away from his partner. Jack grasped at the air where Ianto's legs had been but he was just out of his reach. Ianto continued to crawl across the floor away from Jack and as he reached the bedroom door he realised that they had an audience.

"Hi mam." He grinned sheepishly up at his mother. Jack burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"Tad? How come you and daddy get to play fight but me and Bethan can't?" Caden asked innocently.

"Erm...Because we are grownups." Ianto tried to explain their behaviour.

"Barely." Nerys just looked at her son and took the twins hands in each of hers. "Come on, we'll leave your tad and daddy to clean up this mess and unpack."

The twins and Nerys turned away and went into the bedroom next door.

"Now look what you done, Jack." Ianto grinned at his partner. "You're giving mixed messages to our children."

"You just got told off by your mother!" Jack was still laughing at the situation.

"I did not! That was nothing like getting told off." Ianto pouted and threw a pillow across the room at Jack.

Swatting it away, Jack took a deep breath and calmed himself down. "I think we should do as your mam says. If we're good, she might make us a coffee." Jack smiled hopefully at Ianto.

"And people say I'm obsessed with coffee." Ianto sighed and started gathering the various items that he had thrown off Jack and placed them back on the bed.


	4. Birthday

Jack woke up early on Saturday morning and slipped silently out of the bed; leaving Ianto to sleep a bit longer. It was the twin's fifth birthday and he wanted to set their presents out in the living room for when they woke up. His hair stuck out at ridiculous angles as he walked barefoot across the landing to his children's bedroom door. On his way, he flicked the light switch to turn off the landing light which had been left on all night to help Bethan and Caden get to sleep. Jack leaned against the doorframe and watched his sleeping children. After a few minutes of observing, Jack turned away to gather the presents from his and Ianto's room and bumped into his partner.

"Hello Jack." Ianto grinned. "It's hard to believe that they're already five!" He voiced what was on both their minds.

"Yeah..." Jack started to trail off into thought what he remembered that the twins were early risers. "Are we going to put the presents out in the living room?"

"That sounds good; everyone can watch them open them. I think Rhiannon is home now too so that's somebody else to fuss over the little monsters." Ianto chuckled quietly.

Jack nodded at gestured towards their open bedroom door. Instead of carrying a pile of presents each and coming back for more, they took them down in the suitcase so it only took them one trip. Nerys woke up while they were sorting out which presents were Caden's and which were Bethan's. With all three people helping, it didn't take as long as it usually did. When both children's presents were clearly separated and their cakes were hidden in the boot of Jack and Ianto's car, Ianto offered to make everyone a cup of coffee.

"I thought you'd never ask." Jack licked his lips in anticipation. He briefly wondered if Ianto was taught how to make an outstanding cup of coffee before he left home or if it was a gift; he made a mental note to ask Ianto about it later.

Nerys and Jack surveyed the chaotic looking living room in silence while Ianto made them coffee. As Ianto brought a tray with three mugs on into the living room, Rhiannon walked sleepily down the stairs.

"Good morning everybody," Rhiannon yawned. She quickly rubbed her eyes and scanned the scene below her. "When are my niece and nephew getting up?"

"They shouldn't be long now. They usually wake up about half an hour after me and Ianto." Jack grinned up at Ianto's sister. They had met before but only once because every other time Jack and Ianto had been to visit Nerys, Rhiannon was at University or out with friends.

Rhiannon practically jumped down the last few stairs and sat on Jack's lap; giving him a squeezing hug. When Jack started to turn blue, she left go and went to give Ianto a hug.

"You've been away far too long, Yan." Rhiannon scolded.

"I know but I've been busy and I'm here now, aren't I?" Ianto explained. Although his sister was younger than him, he always done what she told him to do.

"Sorry I wasn't here for when you arrived. There was this huge party that I had to be at." Rhiannon launched into a story about how last night's party was the party of the year and she couldn't miss it for anything.

"I get it Rhi." Ianto chuckled when she started talking about something else completely.

"Okay, you could have said earlier, I was going to make some coffee after I explained that. Anyone want one?" Rhiannon never seemed to stop talking.

"No thanks Rhi, I've just had one." Ianto answered and held up his empty coffee mug as proof.

"Me neither," Nerys did exactly the same as Ianto.

"I'll have one if you're offering." Jack grinned when Ianto gave him a funny look.

"You haven't finished that one." Ianto pointed exaggeratedly at his mug.

"Yeah but by the time Rhiannon's finished making the coffee, I'll have finished this one." Jack rolled his eyes at Ianto.

Just as Rhiannon left the room, two sets of feet could be heard running across the landing. Caden and Bethan came running down the stairs shouting incoherently.

"Happy birthday!" Everyone shouted. The twins squealed and rushed over to separate piles of presents.

"This one says 'To Caden, happy birthday, love tad and daddy'." Bethan looked Ianto. Jack and Ianto usually led the twins to their pile of presents and they were confused.

"That pile's Caden's." Ianto took Bethan's hand and led her to the pile that Caden was inspecting. "Caden, your presents are over here." He left go of Bethan's hand and took Caden's. Once he had led both children to the right presents, Ianto sat next to Jack on the sofa. Taking Jack's hand in his own, he smiled at his partner and they watched the twin's open their birthday presents together; every now and then they shouted words of encouragement.

Nerys and Rhiannon went upstairs to get dressed while Jack and Ianto played with the twin's and their presents. They soon returned and started putting their shoes on.

"Where are you going?" Ianto put the Bethan's Barbie doll down and stood up.

"Just to the market. We go every Saturday." Rhiannon explained whilst clipping a piece of her hair off her face.

"We thought that you and Jack might like stay here, save you the hassle of getting the twins dressed." Nerys took her coat off the hook and put it on.

"Okay, when will you be back?" Ianto passed his mother her handbag from the banister railing.

"About 11." Rhiannon checked herself in the mirror and went to wait by the door.

"Why are you so interested Ianto?" Nerys asked as she opened the front door.

Ianto stepped over random presents on the floor as he didn't want the twins to hear what he and Jack had planned. Once he'd reached his mother he leaned forward so only his mam and sister could hear him.

"I've got a table booked an Italian restaurant in the town centre for 12:30. Could you make sure you're home by 11 so we can get ready. It's just Bethan and Caden don't know about the special cakes yet and we thought we could surprise them after a meal and they love pizza at the moment." Ianto grinned at their plan.

"Okay, we'll make sure we're back by 11 if you're paying." Rhiannon spoke for both of them. She then turned to the twins who were just starting to argue. "Me and your grandma are going out for a little bit, we'll see you later. Happy birthday!"

"Bye!" Both twins shouted after them and instantly forgotten their argument.

Ianto moved back over to his little family when his sister and mam left the house. He picked Bethan up and kissed her forehead lightly.

"I think it's time for two five year olds to get dressed." Ianto said matter-of-factly.

"After we get dressed will you paint a picture with me?" Caden asked Jack.

"I think we should do your pirate jigsaw." Jack didn't think painting was the best idea; especially if they were wearing their good clothes for the meal.

"But I really want to paint you a picture." Caden's bottom lip started quivering.

"We can paint pictures tonight when you're wearing your pyjamas. You don't want to ruin your special birthday outfit, do you?" Jack tried to make his son see sense.

"No, do you promise we can paint a picture tonight?" Caden sniffed a little bit but seemed happier that he would still get to do what he wanted.

Jack chuckled. "I promise, now let's go and get dressed and then we can try and finish your pirate jigsaw before your Auntie and Grandma get back." Jack gave the little boy a challenge. "It's got 250 pieces! Do you think we can do it?"

"Yes!" Caden jumped off the floor and started running up the stairs, eager to start his jigsaw.

"Tad?" Bethan was still in Ianto's arms.

"What is it Cariad?" Ianto turned his head to face the little girl in his arms.

"Can I wear my fairy princess dress?" Bethan looked at Ianto with big blue eyes and he couldn't possibly say no to her.

"Of course you can; as long as you don't spill anything on it, okay?" Ianto carried her up the stairs and into hers and Caden's bedroom. When they entered the room they saw Caden trying to reach the clothes in the wardrobe but failing miserably. Jack followed Ianto in the room and walked straight over to the wardrobe and instantly found Caden's birthday clothes.

"Here you go Sonny boy." Jack handed Caden the clothes and sat on the edge of the bed, ready to help him if he got stuck.

Bethan and Ianto searched through the wardrobe until they found the fairy princess dress that Jack and Ianto had bought for her last week. Ianto helped her zip it up and brushed her hair so it lay flowed nicely down her back. Jack styled Caden's hair with some gel he had packed especially for today. He looked over and smiled at Ianto. They were both thinking the same thing but Ianto managed to speak first.

"I think we need a photo." Ianto grinned at Jack who just sat nodding.

"Is that because I'm so pretty Tad?" Bethan pulled on his sleeve.

"Yes it is Sweetheart." Ianto laughed at how vain his daughter was, just like Jack.

Jack looked over at Caden who was surprisingly quiet; he saw that he was frowning.

"It's also because you're a very handsome young man." Jack pulled him closer and pressed a kiss to his forehead. A smile immediately spread across the little boy's face.

"Caden, could you go and stand next to Bethan." Ianto had planned ahead and had left the camera on the dressing table the night before. He turned it on and pointed it at the twins. Looking through the lens, he noticed that Caden was slouching. "Caden, stand up straight please." He checked again but both twins were now standing poker straight with their hands directly by their sides. It looked unnatural. Ianto was just about to ask them to relax when he felt a pair of arms snake around his waist. Jack rested his head on Ianto's shoulder.

"You two look like we're going to shout at you, relax a bit." Jack grinned at the children. They both loosened up a bit and started to smile. Ianto pressed the button just as Caden sneezed.

"Oh no! I'm going to look silly!" Caden ran to his Tad to have a look at the photo.

"It's okay Caden. I'll just take another one. Go and stand next to Bethan." Ianto pointed over to where Bethan was still standing. Jack's hands left his waist but he didn't move away from Ianto. "Smile!" Ianto said and the twins started giggling. He wasn't sure what they were giggling at but was happy with how the photo looked. He turned around to show Jack and saw him standing with a suspicious grin on his face. "I don't even want to know what you've done." Ianto shook his head and put the camera back on the dressing table.

"Caden, we had better go and start that jigsaw if we want to finish it soon." Jack held out his hand for his son and they made their way downstairs.

"Bethan, is there anything you want to do?" Ianto asked.

Bethan thought for a moment. "Will you teach me how to make coffee?"

Ianto chuckled. "Why do you want to learn how to make coffee?"

"Because Daddy always says that your coffee is the best thing he has ever tasted. I want to be able to make tasty coffee." Bethan explained.

"Okay then Cariad, I'll teach you how to make coffee but I'll have to help you with the kettle whenever you want to make it because the water is very very hot. Okay?" Ianto wanted to make sure his daughter wouldn't try to make it by herself later in case she got burned.

"Okay." Bethan held up her arms and Ianto picked her up and carried her down the stairs and into the kitchen for her first coffee lesson.


	5. Dinner

Jack and Ianto entertained their kids for a little over an hour while they waited for Rhiannon and Nerys to return from the market. They had already played with Bethan's Barbie dolls and completed Caden's pirate jigsaw when they finally walked through the front door carrying a single shopping bag.

Rhiannon was also carrying her small pink digital camera and quickly snapped a photo of the two men and their children playing with the dolls.

"How did it take you so long to buy do little?" Ianto gaped at their lack of purchases.

"We like to browse Yan." Rhiannon laughed at her brother.

Ianto groaned as he stood up, his legs were sore from sitting on the floor for so long. He hobbled over to see what his mam and sister had bought. Just as he was about to look in the bag, Rhiannon pulled it out of his reach and hid it behind her back.

"No, you can't see until later." She grinned mischievously at Ianto. "Now if you don't mind I'm going to freshen up." She skipped up the stairs singing Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" at the top of her voice.

Ianto turned to his mother who was in the middle of taking her boots off.

"Mam?" He said.

"Yes Ianto?" She stopped what she was doing and looked at Ianto.

"What did she buy and why can't I see it?" Ianto asked, knowing that she wouldn't tell him but trying anyway.

Nerys chuckled. "I'm not going to tell you. You'll just have to wait and see." Placing her boots neatly by the door, Nerys also went upstairs.

Jack watched his partner standing alone by the door. He was slightly curious about what was in the bag but the only thought going through his head at the moment was how neat all the Jones were. He had thought it was just Ianto being Ianto at first but staying at the Jones' family home made him realise that it was a family thing; a bit like the good coffee.

Ianto stared up the stairs after his mother and sister for a moment longer then turned back to Jack. He was still watching Ianto.

"What are you staring at?" Ianto raised his eyebrows at Jack.

Jack grinned. "I could murder a cup of coffee."

Ianto sighed. "Jack, what's new? You could _always_ murder a cup of coffee."

"Only a coffee made by a Jones." Jack put on his puppy dog eyes; hoping that Ianto would melt as he usually does and make him a coffee.

Ianto tried desperately not to give in to Jack's puppy dog face but his eyes were just irresistible.

"Fine," Ianto gave up and headed into the kitchen. A victorious smile spread across Jack's face. "But you owe me."

"I'm forever grateful." Jack mocked and went back to playing with the twins.

********

"Right kids, go and get your shoes." Ianto clapped his hands to get the twin's attention.

Bethan dropped her doll and turned to Ianto; her eyes were wide and reminded him of Jack. He often had saw Jack in their kids' faces and he knew Jack kept seeing him in them too. Thankfully, nobody had noticed or they had pretended not to notice; they had discussed it before but had never remembered to think of an excuse.

"Why Tad? Where are we going?" Bethan asked.

"It's a surprise, hun." Jack sat knelt down in front of Caden to tie the boy's shoe laces.

Bethan and Caden's eyes lit up. "I love surprises!" Caden started bouncing up and down on the chair and his foot connected with Jack's jaw.

"Umpf!" Jack jerked back to avoid another kick in the face. "Caden, calm down or you're not going." He said sternly. He would never deny the boy his birthday treat but if he made him think he would, Caden would hopefully calm down.

Caden froze. "Sorry daddy. Can I still have my surprise?"

Jack held back a chuckle. "Well seeing as you apologized; you can still have your surprise."

Ianto shook his head; he could tell that Jack was acting. He had a specific look on his face when he lied and Ianto had grown accustomed to it over the years.

"Rhiannon! Mam! We're getting ready to go now, are you both ready?" Ianto called up the stairs. A moment of silence passed and two doors could be heard opening upstairs and both women appeared at the top of the stairs; their clothes looked more sophisticated than what they were wearing before.

"We're ready. How many seats do you have in your car?" Rhiannon asked whilst putting one of her earrings in.

"Five but we have the two folded seats in the back part so we can set them up and go together." Jack stood up and picked Caden up. "Come on sonny boy."

Ianto swung Bethan into his arms. Her little arms wrapped around Ianto's neck as he followed Jack out of the front door.

Once they had reached the car, Ianto began strapping the twins into their booster seats whilst Jack unfolded the spare seats in the back end of the car.

They spent the next five minutes getting ready to leave and whispering to each other about what they were going to do with the cakes.

"Are you sure they're in the boot?" Jack mumbled, trying not to let his kids hear him.

"Yes Jack, I'm completely positive! How many times do I have to tell you? The cakes are in the boot" Ianto scowled at his partner; Jack had no reason to doubt Ianto, it was always Jack who forgotten things, not Ianto.

"Okay, I'm sorry." Jack quickly kissed Ianto in apology. His lips lingered on Ianto's and he slowly pulled away, smiling at Ianto.

"I forgive you." Ianto grinned goofily. It was amazing that Jack could still make him weak at the knees after so long. He might be able to get used to Jack's personality but he felt he would never get used to his charm; Jack always managed to bowl him over.

Jack winked in reply and turned to where Rhiannon and Nerys were standing gossiping on the drive. "Ladies, are you ready to leave?"

Rhiannon and Nerys nodded and climbed into the car. Jack and Ianto walked round to their sides of the car, checking that all the doors were closed on the way. They had gotten into the routine of checking everything where the kids were involved; nothing in specific made them do this, they just wanted to be sure.

For the first few minutes of the journey, Caden and Bethan sat quietly and watched everything flash past out the window. Nerys and Rhiannon sat in the very back, talking amongst themselves.

Caden suddenly piped up from his where he was sitting. "Where are we going daddy?"

"We already told you, it's a surprise." Jack glanced up in the rear view mirror as he answered his little boy.

"Are we nearly there?" Caden asked.

"We've only just left the house Caden." Jack answered patiently. It was like this every time they travelled somewhere. Both children were incredibly impatient, like Jack.

"But I'm bored!" Caden raised his voice to emphasise his boredom.

"Me too!" Bethan agreed.

Jack looked pleadingly at Ianto. He was too busy concentrating on his driving to entertain the twins as well.

"Why don't we play 'I Spy'?" Ianto swivelled in his seat to face the twins.

"Only if I can go first." Caden folded his arms across his chest.

"Now Caden, you know you shouldn't be demanding and selfish." Ianto scolded gently.

"Sorry, can I go first please?" The boy corrected himself; he smiled sweetly at his tad.

"I suppose so." Ianto sighed and turned back the right way in his seat.

"Yay! Okay, Auntie Rhiannon, Grandma, are you two playing?" Caden peered over the back of his chair into the back of the car.

"Yes honey, we're playing." Rhiannon assured the boy.

"Good. Hmmm. I spy with my little eye something beginning with...G" Caden decided.

Jack immediately grinned. Caden almost always started playing 'I spy' with the same thing. Grass. Jack and Ianto had caught on to this straight away but decided to humour their son. Bethan hadn't noticed yet.

"Is it a garden?" Bethan asked.

"Nope." Caden replied.

"Grandma?" Jack said over his shoulder.

"No." Caden giggled and looked over his own shoulder to check his grandma was still there. "Go on Tad, it's your go."

"Erm...garage?" Ianto guessed.

"No." The boy smiled, clearly happy that his family were 'struggling' to get it.

"Girl?" Rhiannon asked.

"No." Caden answered.

"Jelly?" Bethan tried.

"Bethan, jelly doesn't begin with G and where can you see jelly?" Caden laughed. The little girl stuck her tongue out at her brother and carried on looking out of the window.

Jack couldn't see anything else beginning with G so he decided to guess right. "Is it grass?"

"Yes! Well done daddy! Your go." Caden clapped.

The game carried on until Jack parked their family car in a multi-story car park in the town centre. Everybody except Caden and Bethan climbed out of the car and stretched quickly. The journey hadn't been that long but they were all hungry and it seemed to last forever.

Jack opened to car to door and unbuckled Caden and leaned over to release Bethan.

"Where are we?" Bethan asked as she jumped out of the car.

"Jack, should we tell them?" Ianto turned to face his partner and grinned. It was obvious that Ianto couldn't wait to reveal his kids surprise to them.

"Okay." Jack laughed and got the bag hiding the cakes out of the boot.

"We've reserved a table for a special dinner in a nice Italian restaurant for your birthday." Ianto half shouted.

"Really?" Bethan asked

"Yes." Jack answered and scooped her up in his free arm. "Now come on darling. We don't want to be late, do we?"

"No. Daddy, will they have the same pizzas as Jubilee Pizza?" Bethan brushed a stray piece of hair out of Jack's eye for him.

"Mostly, what do you want?" Jack pressed the button for the lift with his elbow and stood and waited, he glanced over his shoulder to check that Ianto and the rest of the Jones were following him with Caden.

"I would like to have a 'meat feast' pizza please and to drink I would like diet coke," Bethan decided.

"Okay sweetie." Jack's attention turned to the now ready lift. "Yan, hurry up! The lift's here!" He called back, not realising that Ianto was already standing right behind him.

"Jack, I know. I'm right here." Ianto laughed. Jack spun round; his eyes wide with shock.

Jack walked into the lift with all the Jones' behind him, scanning through the elevator buttons, he pressed to go to the ground floor and waited patiently and listened to Bethan tell him what she was going to play with when she got back from the restaurant.

The doors opened and Caden started to squeal excitedly.

"We're here!" He yelled.

"Not quite Cariad." Ianto laughed. "We're out of the car park. The restaurant is just around the corner."

Caden's smile faltered slightly as he realised that he had to wait longer for his dinner.

They all walked briskly towards the restaurant; all eager to eat.

"Caden, what are you going to eat?" Ianto asked his son.

"Erm...What's Bethan having?" He turned in Ianto's arms to face him.

"I don't know. Why don't you ask her?" Ianto suggested.

Leaning over Ianto's shoulder, Caden shouted to his sister. "Bethan! What are you going to eat?"

"I'm going to have a 'meat feast' and a diet coke." Bethan repeated her order mechanically.

"Tad, I'm going to have a 'meat feast' and a diet coke." Caden turned back to Ianto.

"Why?" Ianto raised his eyebrows at him.

"Because me and Bethan are twins so we should have twin meals." Caden answered as is Ianto was thick for not getting it straight away.

"Sorry, I didn't realise." Ianto apologized and looked round at Jack who was grinning wildly after listening in to their conversation.

Ianto shook his head and made a mental note to ignore any comment that came from Jack for the next five minutes.

Rhiannon and Nerys had walked in silence from the lift. Rhiannon spoke the obvious as they reached the restaurant door.

"We're here!" She shouted excitedly; it was aimed at the children but Ianto saw Jack's eyes light up when she said it.

Entering the restaurant, Jack told the waiter about their reservations and they were all seated without delay. Caden and Bethan sat next to each other at the large round table and Jack and Ianto were on either side of them whilst Nerys and Rhiannon sat next to each other opposite the twins and began telling the kids how lovely the food was.

Jack looked over the twin's heads at Ianto and smiled. Ianto simply nodded in return and Jack stood up.

"I'm just going to go to the toilet." He explained as both children looked worriedly up at him.

Caden frowned. "Daddy, you should have gone before we left."

"Sorry kiddo, I forgot. I'll only be a minute." Jack ruffled the little boy's hair and discretely took the carrier bag from where he'd left it under the table.

Once he was out of sight of his little family, Jack explained to the nearest waiter that it was his children's fifth birthday and they had special cakes for them.

"I see, sir. Would you like us to bring them out with some candles on for dessert?" The waiter gestured to Jack's carrier bag.

"If you don't mind." Jack replied.

"Of course I don't mind." The waiter took the bag off Jack, turned towards the kitchen and walked away.

Jack smiled. All was going well on the twin's special day so far. No tantrums. No arguments. And no tears. It was practically a miracle. Jack chuckled to himself and returned to the table where he nodded slightly at Ianto to signal that all was going to plan.

********

Dinner had been delicious and everybody had cleaned their plates. Jack regretted getting Bethan and Caden a whole pizza each as they had ate everything and might not be hungry enough for dessert.

"Do you want a slice of cake for dessert kids?" Ianto held the dessert menu up so the twins couldn't read it and realise that cake wasn't there.

"I don't know, I'm pretty full." Bethan rubbed her tummy.

"Me too." Caden agreed.

Jack looked slightly panicked at Ianto but Ianto had another plan.

"Go on, me and daddy are going to have some cake and you probably won't come here again." Ianto suggested. Jack caught on and decided to assist him in convincing their kids that cake was a good idea.

"Yeah and it is your birthday so you should have a special treat." Jack agreed.

Bethan looked thoughtful for a moment and Caden watched her intently. It was clear that whatever decision Bethan made, Caden was going to copy it.

"Okay, I'll have a slice of cake please. Can I see the picture?" Bethan pointed at the menu.

"Why don't you just wait, Cariad and have a surprise?" Ianto put the menu away and smiled at Bethan.

"Okay." Bethan returned the smile.

Jack felt relieved that the cake surprise hadn't been ruined and stood up again. "I'm going to order the dessert. Rhi, Nerys, do you want anything?"

"No thanks, I'm stuffed." Nerys mimicked Bethan and rubbed her belly.

"Same here." Rhiannon answered.

"Okay, I'll be back in a minute." Jack quickly scanned the restaurant and found the waiter he had given the cakes too.

"Excuse me!" Jack called over to him. The waiter approached his and smiled.

"Are you ready for the cakes now?" The waiter asked.

"Yes." Jack nodded.

"Where are the birthday children?" The waiter looked around the restaurant; trying to spot Jack's children.

"The boy and the girl sitting at table 12." Jack pointed towards his table.

"Okay sir. I'll have the cakes out in a few minutes." The waiter explained and headed into the kitchen again to collect the cakes.

Jack returned to the table once more and piled all the used plates up in the centre so there would be enough room for dessert.

Jack decided to distract the twins who were sitting staring at the kitchen door.

"So kids, what's your favourite present?" Jack asked casually, knowing that he would have the twins hyper within seconds.

Just as he'd predicted; both twins started speaking at fifty miles per hour at once.

"Hang on!" Jack held a hand up to silence them. "One at a time."

Caden beat his sister and started telling his dad what his favourite present was. "I love my pirate jigsaw. Do you think that with the money I got in my card off Gwen for some more jigsaws?"

"You can buy whatever you want with that money because it's yours." Jack told him. Turning to Bethan, he asked "What is your favourite present sweetie?"

"I love all my Barbie dolls. Especially the one wearing the wedding dress and has long blonde hair." Bethan signalled towards her hair and smiled at Jack and Ianto.

Jack took the chance while she was describing her favourite doll to Ianto to glance towards the kitchen and check if the waiter was coming or not.

Sure enough, the waiter had just pushed through the door with Bethan's cake in his hand; another waiter was carrying Caden's cake. They weaved expertly in between the tables and eventually arrived at the Harkness-Jones' table.

"Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday little twinnies. Happy birthday to you." The waiter's sang to Bethan and Caden.

When the cakes were placed in front of each twin, their faces lit up. A flash came from where Rhiannon was sitting as she snapped a picture of the kid's reactions.

"Daddy! This looks like my drawing!" Bethan inspected the cake.

"It is. Do you like it?" Jack answered.

"Yes! Thank you." Bethan attempted to wrap her small arms around Jack's waist.

"You're very welcome." Jack smiled and enveloped his daughter in a monstrous hug.

"Caden, do you like your cake?" Ianto asked. The boy was sitting staring at the cake.

"Yes...How did the restaurant know that I like pirates?" He looked up at his Tad, clearly worried.

Ianto chuckled and placed an arm over the little boy's shoulders. "They don't. Your daddy and I bought the cake in Cardiff, brought it here and asked the kitchen people to look after it and give you it for dessert."

"Oh." Caden wiped a finger across the edge of his cake and lick it. "Mmm, tad, do you want some?"

"I'll have some when we get home Cariad." Ianto smiled and watched Caden cut a chunk of cake off for himself and start eating it. Bethan was doing the same but she was sitting on Jack's knee and Jack was leaning over her shoulder; stealing bites of cake from her.

"Daddy!" She chuckled.

Rhiannon had sat opposite the Harkness-Jones taking pictures of the scene including one of Jack eating the cake off Bethan's fork whilst she was completely unaware and talking to Nerys.

Once the twins were full and everybody had finished their drinks, Jack asked for the bill and quickly paid for their meal with his credit card whilst Ianto put the rest of both cakes back into their boxes.

"Are we going home now?" Bethan walked along side Ianto with her small hand covered by his large hand.

"Yes." Ianto replied simply.

"Good." Caden looked up at Jack.

"Why is that good?" Jack asked the little boy.

"Because once I get into my pyjamas, I can paint a picture." Caden jumped up and down.

"But it's only 1:30pm" Ianto looked back, laughing.

"Well, I'll just have an early bath." Caden shrugged his shoulders. "Daddy, my legs are tired."

Jack sighed and lifted the boy onto his shoulders and bounced up and down lightly. The little boy started laughing.

"Jack, he has just stuffed himself, do you really think it's wise to be bouncing him up and down?" Ianto scolded.

Jack rolled his eyes at Ianto and carried on bouncing Caden up and down causing Bethan to giggle.

"Jack Harkness-Jones, you disobey me one more time and you'll be sleeping on the sofa!" Ianto shouted over his shoulder.

Jack's eyes widened and he immediately stopped bouncing his son. "Sorry Ianto."

"Well, I suppose they're a typical family." Nerys giggled.

Bethan started laughing and didn't see the bump in the pavement ahead of her and fell forward. She would have fell if Ianto hadn't had hold of her hand and steadied her. However, she had an almost full can of coke in her other hand and spilled most of it on Ianto's jeans.

"I'm so sorry Tad!" Bethan attempted to wipe some of the coke off his kneecap.

"It's okay darling, it was an accident. Jack, you did pack my other jeans when I asked you to, didn't you?" Ianto asked.

"Erm...When did you ask me to pack them?" Jack tried to think back to when Ianto had asked him.

"The night before we came here." Ianto glared at Jack. Not needing him to say that he had forgotten.

"I don't remember you asking me, Yan." Jack tried to sweeten him.

"That's it! You're sleeping on the sofa tonight!" Ianto turned away and carried on walking towards the car, hoping that the car park would be empty so nobody would stare.

"Come on Yan. It was an accident. I don't want to sleep on the sofa again!" Jack called after him.

Nerys and Rhiannon followed behind them, laughing.

"Ianto, can I please sleep in the bed?" Jack caught up with him.

"It depends, you better be really really nice to me." Ianto bribed.

"What do I need to do?" Jack sighed and resigned himself to his partner's bribery.

"Well, to start I want you to do my duties in the Hub for a week and make Owen work next Sunday so you can take the kids to the museum like you promised." Ianto explained.

"How is getting me the day off a punishment?" Jack looked confused and lifted Caden off his shoulders and placed him gently on the floor beside him.

Ianto grinned, "Kids, who wants to go to the museum next Sunday?"

Both twins started jumping up and down excitedly.

"Have fun taking two hyper five year olds on a day out, Jack." Ianto laughed and climbed into the car.

Jack mumbled under his breath and began strapping his children into their booster seats. All the way home, Ianto told Caden and Bethan all about the museum in Cardiff and got them as hyper as possible for Jack.


	6. Home Again

It took an hour and a half to get home and the twins were exhausted and didn't even wake up when Jack and Ianto unbuckled them and carried them to their room.

"Should we wake them up?" Jack asked.

Ianto shook his head. "No."

"But they'll never sleep tonight." Jack protested.

"Yeah but they obviously need the sleep. If we wake them up now they'll be grumpy and looking for arguments with each other. I don't really want to deal with two grouchy children. I'd rather they wake up later and don't want to go to sleep. That way we can just sit them down with some paints or use all the extra energy to tidy their bedroom and put all their new toys away in proper homes." Ianto explained and took Jack's hand and led him out of the bedroom.

Closing the door behind him, Ianto leaned closer to Jack and kissed him. Jack was surprised at first but it only took a second for him to return Ianto's kiss. He wrapped his arms around Ianto's waist and he pulled him closer. Jack basked in the contact but Ianto pulled away and pressed a few smaller kisses to Jack's mouth before he detached himself from his boyfriend and walked teasingly back down the stairs; leaving Jack dumbfounded.

"Jack? Are you coming downstairs to help me with the suitcases?" Ianto called up to him. Jack could hear the smile in his voice.

"Yeah." Jack quickly made his way to where Ianto was standing with the cases. He took one handle and helped Ianto wheel them into the utility room.

"Thanks for making the weekend so special, Jack." Ianto said whilst unloading clothes that needed washing into the laundry basket.

"I didn't really do anything Ianto." Jack raised his eyebrows.

"You were there Jack. I know it's not fun staying with my family but it means a lot to me that you do." Ianto explained.

"Ianto, I love your family. If I had my way, we would be visiting them a lot more often." Jack started sorting through the dirty washing and separating it into light and darks so the colours wouldn't run.

"How can you love my family? Whenever we go to visit them I'm constantly worrying that somebody will bring something embarrassing up from my childhood." Ianto pouted and Jack couldn't help but stare. He was so cute when he pouted.

"What embarrassing stuff?" Jack asked. He was curious now. Ianto had never mentioned anything like that before. To be honest, Jack had never thought of Ianto doing anything embarrassing; he was almost always calm and collected.

"Nothing." Ianto answered quickly and started shoving the first load of washing into the machine. He adjusted the settings and walked out of the door and into the garden.

"You can't just leave it there Yan. Tell me some embarrassing stuff." Ianto shook his head as he sat on the bench in their garden. The grass was littered with toys from the twins and Ianto wanted nothing more than to just get up and start tidying everything away but he knew that he wasn't about to get out of this conversation. "I've told you tonnes of stories about my past."

"Fine, it's not exactly embarrassing but I'd rather not have it brought up again." Ianto tried to stall.

"Spit it out Yan. I'm dying to know what you're afraid of everybody knowing!" Jack bounced up and down like a small child on Christmas Eve.

"I stole some clothes from Top Man." Ianto blurted out. He instantly went that cute shade of red that Jack loved so much and buried his face in his hands.

"Is that it?" Jack stopped bouncing and looked at Ianto.

"I was doing it to impress the guys I was hanging around with." Ianto explained.

"What did they look like?" Jack asked, the mischievous grin was spreading across his face once again.

"Jack! Is that all you ever think about?" Ianto scowled.

"Well you said that you were trying to impress them so I assumed that you meant that you like them." Jack said innocently.

"No, I wanted to be in their gang and I thought it would make me cool. I got caught though and tried to escape the security guards by stamping on their feet but they just lifted me up until I stopped kicking." Ianto looked down shamefully.

A moment of silence passed and then Jack burst out laughing.

"What happened when they finally stopped you from having a tantrum?" Jack wiped the tears from his face and tried to stop himself from laughing so hard.

"I was taken to the security office and my Tad was called to the shop and made to pay for the clothes. I then had to go to court." Ianto added quietly.

"Seriously? What did they say?" Jack asked. He was getting into Ianto's story.

"They originally gave me six weeks community service." Ianto admitted.

"What do you mean 'originally'?" Jack said.

"I started kicking off because that's what the other kids in the gang would have done and I got twelve weeks community service instead." Ianto hung his head.

"Awww. Poor Ianto." Jack cooed and stroked Ianto's head.

"I was also grounded by my Tad and my Mam made me do the dishes for three weeks." Ianto moaned. "And do you know what the worst part is?"

Jack shook his head.

"I still wasn't allowed in their gang!" Ianto grumbled.

Jack couldn't help bursting into laughter again. Ianto playfully hit him but soon joined in the laughter when he saw the funny side.

A little voice at the door finally stopped their laughing.

"Daddy? Can you play Barbie's with me please?" Bethan stood at the door with her hair tousled from sleep.

"Sure sweetie. You go and get everything ready and I'll be there in a minute." Jack told her.

Ianto smiled into the kiss that Jack had suddenly planted on him. Their lips lingered for a few more moments before Jack pulled away, chuckled slightly and went back inside the house to play Barbie's with their daughter.

Sighing happily, Ianto thought to himself that he wouldn't change his family for the world.


End file.
